Ballast-cleaning device



March 16 1926. 1,577,390

G. VANG BALLAST CLEANING DEVICE Filed June 16, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 16 1926.

G. VANG BALLAST CLEANING DEVICE Filed June 16, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 wvw x 3 noenloo March 16 {1926;

G. VANG BALLAST CLEANING DEVICE Filed June 16, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m m m enonen vane, or 'ouiusnnnnnn, ivrARYLAnn.

BALLAST-CLEANING DEVICE.

Applicationfiled June 1c, 1923. Serial impeeas'ss.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon VANG, acitizen of the United States, residing at Cumberland, in the county of Allegany and State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ballast-Cleaning Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ballast cleaning devices for use on railroads and more particularly to a ballast cleaning device which is readily mobile and which possesses various new and useful in'iprovements.

The deteriorating effect of accumulated dirt in. the stone ballast of a railroad upon the wooden ties thereof is the cause of a great deal of expense in its maintenance. To prolong the period of utility of the woode tie and to provide for ,a satisfactory ballast effect it periodically becomes necessary to clean the. dirt from the ballast and to retamp the ties with the cleaned stone. Heretofore this work has been accomplished largely by manual labor and the operation therefore necessarily a long and expensive one.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a means for cleaning such ballast in large quantities by a screening device which separates the dirt from the ballast stone and which automatically deposits the cleaned ballast at any of a plurality of places on the track as desired, the dirt being deposited off to the side of the track.

It is a further object of my invention to render my screening device of ready mobility by building the same, complete on a railway car such as is illustrated, the ballast to be screened being deposited on the screen by a locomotive crane operating a clam shell. 7

Other objects of my invention will be found in the accompanying specification and claim and will be disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an end view partly in elevation and partly in section of my device with the wire screen removed to show more clearly the screen supporting plates;

Figure 2 is aside elevation partly in section of my device;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of my device.

Reference is now made with greater particularity to the drawings. I have adapted my screening device to be built onto or to tratee.

' right as shown in Figure 3, support a plurality of metal plates 4. These and to guide the stone-to the r-be readily mounted onto the sides 3 and the floor 3 of 'a railway car 1 of the type illusdevice may be simply made of wooden beams. Beams 2, sloping downwardly from left to are adapted to metal plates have their upper surfaces curved throughout a portion oftheir length from the sices of the car toiwird'tliecenter thereof, as shown in Figure 1. A heavy wire screen 5 with a mesh of appropriate diinensions is fired to the framework and adapted to bear upon and conform to the contour of the upper surfaces of plates 41..

A suitable hopper is forined'by the provision of the two-metal plates 6 and 7 supported on framework arms 8 and 9, respectively. The function of this hopper 'is to protect the screen froindaniage bythe stone as it is dumped from a'clanrshell operated by a locomotive crane to prevent thestone striking the screen with such force as'to cause smaller stones to stick in its mesnes, screen in such a manner-the lower end of plate 6 being slightly below that of plate 7-that the ba llast shall have the proper amount of initial velocity downwardly along the screen as to )rovide for satisfactory screening. 7

A heavy metal plate 11, sloping from left to right as viewed in Figure 1 is adapted to catch the dirt falling through the screen. This plate is fixed to the framework 2 and is given a slope of sufficient pitch to cause the dirt to slide to the extreme lower right hand side of the car, as viewed in this figure, and out and down the four dirt chutes 18, hingedly secured to the car body at 18 to the side of the road bed. Chain yokes 21 are secured to the dirt chutes at'21 and at 21 to suitable cables 22 adapted to pass over pulleys 22" at th side of the car. These cables then pass over and around and are secured to a shaft 23 which is adapted to be rotated by a crank 25 for raising or lowering the dirt chute. A. ratchet and pawl 2 1 are provided for holding the dirt chutes in the position desired.

The cleaned ballast as it leaves the lower end of the screen passes over a metal plate 13 slanting from left to right as shown in Figure 1 and also from right to left as viewed in Figure 1. The ballast is thus guided to the single ballast chute 16 which is hingedly secured to the plate 13 at 16 The framework 2 of my screening- A suitable chain yoke 19 is secured at 19" to the chute 16 and at 19 to a suitable cable for raising or lowering the ballast chute. The cable 19 is adapted to be secured in any approved manner at to the frame 20*, 20 the single chute being lowered or raised manually.

A door 141 is formed in the slide 13 and is hinged as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 to permit ballast being deposited between the two rails when desired. A suitable eyelet and pin 14 and 1 1 are provided to hold the door in its closed position. A door 15 is hingedly connected to the floor of the car as shown. A similar door 17 is hinged in the base of the chute 16 midway of its ends for use for depositing the cleaned ballast at a medium distance from the rail, the full length of the chute being used to deposit ballast farther from the rail.

A hoist engine 26 of any suitable type is provided, having a hoist 27 and scoop or clam shell (not shown) for lifting the ballast to be cleaned from the ground to the hopper. The side walls of the screening device are carefully boarded up as shown at 15 in Figure 1.

From the foregoing my device will be seen to operate as follows:

When the apparatus is to be put into operation the dirt chutes 21 and the ballast chute 16 are extended and the doors 1d and 15 and 16 opened if desired. The uncleaned ballast is loaded into the scoop and lifted and dumped into the hopper which gives it a slight initial velocity downwardly along the screen, the slope of the screen being carefully calculated to maintain the proper rate of descent of the ballast to provide for the maximum cleaning effect. The dirt falls through the screen onto the slide 11 and slides out through chute 21. The ballast slides over the slide 13 after leaving the screen, and. is deposited through door 15 and door 17 or off the outer end of chute 16. The incline of the screen may be varied by fixing the support 2 at any of the points 2* in frame 2.

I claim In a device of the character described, a frame adapted for travel on a track, a screen mounted in said frame at an incline longitudinal of said frame, a hopper adapted to protect said screen and to regulate the initial velocity of the material thereon, a slide mounted in said frame beneath said screen and adapted to convey the dirt flowing therefrom to one side of the frame, dirt chutes hingedly connected to the frame and adapted to receive and convey the dirt to a point at one side of the frame, a ballast slide adapted to receive ballast from said screen, a door in the floor thereof adapted to deposit the ballast therethrough before reaching the exit end of the slide between the rails of the track.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEORGE VANG. 

